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Argentate Elves
Argentate Elves, also known as Byrjunalf (Densken, “pale men”), hail from the province of Nordyn (North of Ewsel). Nordyn Nordyn is directly north of Ewsel but is a province of Heli and home to the Argentate Elves. Nordyn is a cold and rugged region, full of mountains, cliffs and valleys. Any flatlands are just tundra brush the further north one travels. The coasts are blanketed by freezing cold tides and the mountains are littered with pines and redwoods. The Argentate Elves live in sectioned holds and towns are far and few between. Physiology The Argentate Elves are slightly shorter in stature than the Iridian Elves and are generally thinner. They have skin tones ranging from almost translucent white to pale grey and have icy blue eyes. They generally all have white-grey hair. Biologically, the Argentate Elves are cousins to the Iridian Elves and the Aureate Elves. The Argentate Elves are considered the most ‘unclean’, lineage-wise. Culture A main element of Argentate Elves society was kingship which came from mixing their Iridian ancestry and the tribal ways of the humans. The kings were initially elected, and then their families ran for as long as the free people were happy with them. Initially, there were only free men and their king, there were no lords as intermediaries. Free women were allowed to inherit their father or husband’s ranks, which is a huge indicator of human influence. A woman was equally likely to inherit lordship from her father as were her brothers. There are two types of marriage that the Argentate Elves follow: Free marriage and political marriage. Free marriage was between two individuals who average 20 years of age and in were true love and friendship. Political marriage is generally only seen in the ruling houses as it is used from birth (betrothal) to ensure allies. The marriage vows are as follows: “This Soul takes name as forever partner in toils and dangers, to suffer and to dare equally with him/her, in peace and in war, in life and in death, in youth and in old age.” Weapons used by the Argentate Elves tended to reflect their physiology, as they were thinner and lighter than their cousins. They used longbows and javelins most often, any others were unlikely and rare. Any armor they wore was light and only a king or a lord would wear armor. Before uniting under the Helian High King, the Argentate Elves were made up of several city-states that united for only short amounts of time. The city-states were easily inhabited by other races as everything was about uniting those who would not usually unite. This is why some of the houses of Nordyn are run by non-elven races. In fact, only one house is run by an Argentate Elf house. The houses of Nordyn are: House Althaus, House Fascheux, House Ahlberg, House D’Airelle, and House Pavlov. Religion The Argentate Elves used to follow a human paganistic ritual but since uniting under the High King of Heli they have followed Orthodox and each town has a different shrine for one of the gods. Many of the god’s names found in Argentate Elf language variant are similar to that of Commonspeak, notably the god known to the Argentate Elves as Arric or Asrric, to the nordic humans as Asrec, and to the Iridian as Ashoric. Language Though Nordyn’s official language is Commonspeak, the Argentate Elves keep their original language of Byrran which is largely oral and has no official writing. Notable Byrjun Elves * Leopold III Althaus * Roderich Arce * Sieger Dietrich